FILE – In this Aug. 23, 2013 file photo, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon speaks at the Harrisonville Community Center in Harrisonville, Mo. Nixon is renewing his push to expand Medicaid eligibility to more lower-income adults. Nixon held a news conference Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2013, at his office in the Missouri Capitol to discuss the proposed Medicaid expansion in advance of the 2014 legislative session. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner, File)

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Gov. Jay Nixon renewed his push Tuesday to expand Missouri’s Medicaid health care program to more lower-income adults, expressing hope that reluctant lawmakers will feel pressure to do so as other states start receiving a surge of federal Medicaid dollars.

The Democratic governor highlighted a Medicaid expansion as a priority for the 2014 legislative session, which starts next week. He also said he wants to boost spending on education and curtail some of Missouri’s costliest tax credit programs.

Nixon similarly made Medicaid expansion a priority in 2013, but was rebuffed by a Republican-led Legislature that remains Login to read more